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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. branch — a division
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. mark — a trace
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. row — a line
  7. prune — to trim
  8. mark — a grade
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. spring — a coil
  12. prune — to trim
  13. capital — money
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. spring — of water
  17. rule — a law
  18. spring — the season
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. capital — a city
  21. bore — to drill
  22. rule — government
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bore — to tire

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com